The whole world is worried about the problem of climate change. Indian researchers have achieved a major achievement towards solving this problem. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have developed a biological method that will convert methane and carbon dioxide into clean biofuel using methanotrophic bacteria.

While this will prevent the harmful environmental effects of greenhouse gases, it will also solve the problem of the constantly depleting fossil fuel reserves. This is also an important step towards India becoming self-reliant in the energy sector. This research has been published in the Elsevier journal 'Fuel'.

What did Professor Debashish Das say?

"Converting methane and carbon dioxide into liquid fuels can reduce carbon emissions and provide renewable energy, but the current chemical methods are expensive and produce toxic by-products," said Debashish Das, Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Guwahati.

It is an economical way

Das said that his team has developed a completely biological process, which uses methanotrophic bacteria to convert methane and carbon dioxide into bio-methanol. This process does not emit toxic by-products. This method is also economical.

This research shows that bio-methanol, derived from bacteria that eat methane and carbon dioxide, could be an alternative to fossil fuels. This is a significant step towards a cleaner and greener future, with the potential to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He said, while traditional biofuels depend on crops, this method uses greenhouse gases. Researchers claimed that this method can reduce emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulphide and smoke by up to 87 per cent.